Sai's Happy Ending
by ReaperDuckling
Summary: "I'd like you to tell us if you have any feelings for Naruto, Sai?" Part of the Happy Ending series


**AN: **Oh, Sai. My sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet Sai, you deserve everything you ever wanted and more and yet I treat you like a piece of shit for my own amusement. Why do I do this? I don't know, I just love emotional Sai I suppose... xD  
(This is one of my favorite parts from the Happy Ending series. Especially the talk Kakashi has with Sasuke)

**Warnings: **Emotions

* * *

_**~8**__**th**__** of June~**_

They put up another war memorial.

A simple stone standing next to the other by the graveyard, the one from the third ninja war, with name after name after name of family and friends and coworkers carved into it with small, delicate letters.

The name at the top of the list was Tsunade's.

Her name was traced with gentle fingers by Shizune, that was sitting by the foot of the stone sobbing quietly even as Kakashi held his speech to the villagers, _his _villagers now, of how the fallen would never be forgotten, of how they were _heroes. _

He spoke pretty words of peace and new beginnings, the syllables rolling off of his tongue clumsily, and had to fight the urge to smile (_a twisted, sad smile_) when he caught himself telling everyone about the will of fire, and the springtime of youth.

Kakashi watched his people morn; watched Tsume hug Hinata to her harshly (_the older woman crying for the death of her only son, the younger for her comrades and her father_), watched the cold emptiness swim in Ino's, Shikamaru's, Chouji's and Lee's eyes, and the tears that fell freely from Naruto's cheeks (_he cried for them all, friends and strangers, deceased and those left to live with the weight of it. It made Kakashi think bitterly about how he should have been made Hokage, how much more __**worthy **__Naruto would have been_) – and it made him think about the joint shinobi army, about the pretty words of alliances and friendship, about one nation, one people.

And yet, the only names written on the stone were the ones of Konoha's own.

In death, everyone had been divided, and everyone was alone.

He thought about his meeting with his father in the afterlife, and wondered how many others there were sitting there now, staring at the flickering of flames in the darkness of limbo, awaiting their loved ones.

He wondered if Neji was one of them, waiting to tell Lee that it was alright, he'd given his life willingly but they'd always be friends, please be happy? Was Hiashi sitting next to him, waiting for Hinata and Hanabi?

He wondered if Tsunade had been reunited with Jiraiya, and if, at least in death, he'd finally found the courage to tell her how he felt.

A mental image of Shikaku, Chôza and Inoichi sitting by the fire, laughing and reminiscing about the good old days of their life's while awaiting their children and wife's struck him suddenly, making him force down a smile.

And then another, one of Rin and Obito (_a child in death. Innocent and pure, like he'd once been, before war and death and __**pain**__ had crushed and malformed him_) sitting by the fire, waiting for _**him**_, for them to be together again like they were meant to – and suddenly he knew, he just _**knew**_, that they'd be alright.

There was a wedding ring around his finger, spreading warmth throughout his entire body, and before he knew what he was doing, Kakashi found himself walking up to Shizune by the stone and putting a hand on her trembling shoulder.

He raised his head, and spoke to his people.

"We'll be alright… _They're _watching over us."

_**~29**__**th**__** of May~**_

Technically speaking, this was illegal.

Even though they felt like grownups nowadays, none of them would be of legal drinking age in at least two years, making Sakura feel slightly nervous as she went up to the bar to order refills for everyone.

It was alright though - no one had been asking for legitimization since the war ended, and they'd made sure to go to one of the inns which no one they knew ever visited (_only made possible because, with the exception of the ramen stands that had come into a sudden fashion, no other business had been so quick to recover and multiply as the local pubs had in the ruins of Konoha_).

Shino had been the one suggesting, as strange as it may seem, saying that it might relieve some tension left from the battle, and together with Naruto they'd manage to gather all of the surviving members of the four most successful ninja teams of their generation to this little outing.

At the moment they were sitting crouched together around a corner table, watching Lee-kun and Naruto battle a fierce arm wrestling match with what seemed like most of the pub as cheering spectators.

"IF I LOSE THIS, I MUST DO ONE THOUSAND ONE ARMED PUSH UPS WITH TENTEN ON MY BACK!" She heard Lee scream, and smiled.

"Had a little too much, had he?" The barista asked as he gave her the plate of beverages.

"Oh no, that's just him. He's been drinking diet coke all evening! Trust me…" Sakura smiled sheepishly. "…if he was drunk, you'd _**know.**_"

Giving him his money, she balanced the heavy plate easily with one hand and turned to join her friends.

She pushed through the thick crowd of people littering around their table, using her free arm to elbow them in their sides or simply throw them to the floor whenever they got too close to tipping the drinks, and was just about to push through the last layer when she heard Lee's shout of: "NOOOOOOO!" and Naruto's boost of triumphant laughter.

Half the crowd cheered, the other half cursed; money was exchanged and it made her think about Tsunade, which made her think about just how much she could use another drink.

Pushing past the man standing in front of her, she put the drinks on their table and sat down next to Sai, that was way too engrossed in watching Naruto celebrate to even notice.

Jeeze, if he got any more obvious, he'd just have to get a big club with the words "I love you Naruto!" written on it and hit the aforementioned, oblivious male in the face with it…

Shaking the mental images from her head she decided that, yeah, she _**definitely **_needed a drink!

As she took one of the small shots of sake from the table and sipped it, she watched Rock Lee make his way from the couches and onto the now quickly emptying floor in front of it, getting down to balance on the palm of one hand and the tips of twenty toes.

"Yosh, Tenten! Get onto me!" He shouted, making the brunette flush dark red in embarrassment.

"_Why?!_" She half screamed, half whined.

"Because I lost my battle against Naruto-kun, and now I must atone to become strong!"

"Yes but _why me?!_"

He gave her a dazzling smile, one big and white enough to practically illuminate the entire room, and blushed cutely.

"Because I trust you, Tenten."

For the first time that evening, the entire group fell into an awkward silence.

Hinata was blushing, yet smiling, ever so slightly; Shino, Shikamaru and Chouji looked _really _uncomfortable; Naruto was as oblivious as ever, still basking in his victory; Sai was looking from Lee to Tenten and back again, over and over, most likely trying his hardest to decipher the situation; and when Ino met Sakura's eyes from across the table, the blond couldn't quite keep herself from letting out a small, knowing giggle.

Tenten (_more red faced than ever now_) gave her a daring glare, took one of the shots of sake from the table and gulped it down, and then promptly pushed her way out from her place on the couch to go and sit on Lee's back.

"Don't go too fast, or I swear to Kami I will throw up on you…" she muttered darkly.

"YOSH!" Lee shouted, and then went all too fast.

Turning away from the spectacle, Sakura decided to make a challenge of her own.

"Oy, Naruto…" Smirking at the male, she pushed the drinks to the far end of the table and put her arm down there instead, giving all of them a confident flex of her muscles. "…how about we make this into a _real _challenge?"

A swell of pride filled her heart as all color slowly left his face and a look of dread came over it instead.

"Ehm… But… But Sakura-chaaaan…~"

**_~X~_**

"Eight hundred and seventy seven…"

"An ace… take one drink."

Chouji chugged the sake cup like a pro.

"Nine. Pick a rhyme, Ino!"

"Rose." The girl smiled sweetly.

"Froze."

"Chose."

"…eight hundred and ninety one…"

"Blows."

"Ehm… Hoes?"  
"Naruto!" Sakura smacked him over the arm.

"Woes."

"Hose."

"Nose!"

"…nine hundred and two…"

"I should have chosen something more difficult…" the blond sighed and took a sip of water.

Sakura smiled at her, thought about how cute Ino was and how lucky she was to have her as a friend, which led her to the conclusion that she was thoroughly _**wasted**_.

Then again; everyone but Lee seemed to be – Tenten had fallen asleep on his back, Hinata wouldn't stop giggling, Ino was practically _**clinging **_to Chouji, Shikamaru seemed strangely alert for once, Shino kept complaining about how hot it was and taking off his clothes (by now he was sitting in nothing but a t-shirt, pants and, of course, his sun glasses, showing more skin than Sakura had ever seen on him), Naruto took every opportunity he could to do sexy no jutsu (which got worse and worse the drunker he got, by the way – now they just made him look like a drag queen with too much makeup and an alarming amount of body hair) and Sai was blushing like a virgin maid. If he hadn't been pinned in so tightly between Sakura and Shikamaru, she was sure that he'd be swaying in his seat.

"…nine hundred and twenty five…"

"Naruto, you're next!"

He pulled a card from the deck and put it on the table.

Heart of two.

Shakily, he raised one cup of sake after the other to his mouth and swallowed them down.  
They'd been playing Fubar for the last forty-five minutes now, while Tenten snored and Lee did his torturous, one armed pushups; the time was 2:15 and the small bar had almost completely emptied around them.

"…nine hundred and thirty three…"

It was Sakura's turn.

Fighting the sudden wave of vertigo and nausea that took her, she pulled a trembling hand out to pick a card and place it face up on the table.

Heart of four.

Suddenly, everyone was interested, and through her drunken daze, she smiled evilly.

A four of any type of card meant that she'd get to ask every player, one after the other, whatever she wanted (!), and they _**had **_to answer it.

Shikamaru was the only one that had gotten one so far, and he'd only asked boring, simple questions like "what's your favorite color" or "do you like soccer?" in order to get away from the troublesome responsibility as quickly as possible; making everyone annoyed, yet relieved, simultaneously.

"…nine hundred and forty nine…"

Sakura wasn't going to abuse the power given to her though, she thought as she observed her friends. No, she was going to use this opportunity to get some _**facts **_out of them, things that she'd always wondered but been too ashamed to ask.

"…nine hundred and fifty five…"

And she was going to start with…

"Naruto!" She slurred, before she could stop herself. "What are those weird whisker things on your cheeks? Are they like… scars or tattoos or birth marks or… _**what are they**_?"  
Damn.

She hadn't meant to be so shallow.

Naruto only stared at her for a long, long time, tough, before he slurred back just as intelligently: "I have _**whiskers **_on my cheeks?!"

Through the silence that followed, the only sounds audible was Lee's heavy panting, and the count of his pushups.

"…nine hundred and sixty, nine hundred and sixty one, nine hundred and sixty two…"

She decided to move on.

"Ino! Is it true that you're joining ANBU?"

Through the rest of the interrogation, Sakura got to know that yes, Ino _was _intending to join ANBU, Chouji was in love but refused to tell in whom (and even though Sakura was drunk and her observational powers wasn't on top, the look of jealousy that crossed Ino's eyes at that was painfully obvious), Shino wore his sunglasses all the time because he thought they looked cool, Hinata was _not _a virgin and Shikamaru and Temari were _not _having secret sex thank you very much a change of subject would be nice now _**please?! **_

"…nine hundred and ninety one…"

"So…" Sakura turned to Sai, the last of her victims, feeling her diabolical, genius plan close around him like a Venus flytrap and mentally laughing at him as it did so.

"So?" Her teammate smiled back at her falsely.

"…I'd like you to tell us…"

"…nine hundred and ninety five…"

"…if you have any feelings…"

"…nine hundred and ninety six…"

"…for Naruto, Sai?"

For two, tense seconds, everyone froze, and Sakura swore she felt the temperature drop by ten degrees as she stared into her friend's unreadable dark eyes, watching as they grew wider and wider with every passing millisecond.

As all color left his already pale face, she almost felt a little bad for him, but after observing him run after Naruto for what seemed like an eternity by now she was _**sick and tired **_of not seeing any progress in their relationship, and had decided to take things into her own hands.

She was drunk, she was young and she was victorious – there simply was no stopping her.

He opened his mouth, looking so small and vulnerable next to her that she started doubting the wisdom of her actions anyway, despite her previous confidence.

Then, simply because Naruto was Naruto and Naruto was an idiot, the blond ruined _**everything! **_

"What kind of stupid question is that, Sakura?" He laughed, immediately bringing all attention to himself as he scratched himself on the back of his head and smiled that stupid, bright smile of his. "Of course Sai's got feelings for me, isn't it obvious?"

Her heart skipped a beat.

From the corner of her vision, she saw a small shimmer of hope give a sudden spark in Sai's eyes.

"Y-you _**knew**_?"

"Well of course…" Naruto frowned at him, confused. Sakura had a very, _**very **_bad feeling about this. "…we're friends, right?" He laughed sheepishly. "I thought you knew! I'm sorry if I didn't make it more clear to you, Sai!"

Something broke in the dark eyed boy then.

His eyes deadened, the smile on his face looked so fake Sakura was sure that it must _**hurt **_and his shoulders slumped, if only ever so slightly.

"Thank you, Naruto, for clearing that up for me. You know I have some… _**issues **_with understanding human emotions."

"No problem!"

"ONE THOUSAND!" Lee suddenly exclaimed in an exhausted, yet victorious sounding voice, breaking the tense atmosphere.

Laying down to shrug the still sleeping Tenten down onto the floor gently, the spandex clad youth continued to stagger to the table and grab a hold of one of the cups.  
"Now I'm _**really **_thirsty…"

"NO, LEE WAIT THAT'S…!"

It was too late.

Before anyone had been able to stop him, he'd chugged the entire cup of sake down his throat.  
Well fuck.

_**~X~**_

It had been nearly two minutes since Lee had drunk that cup of sake, and he hadn't moved a muscle ever since.

He was just _standing _there, staring down at the floor, the empty cup still in his hand; _**and it creeped everyone out. **_

Sakura was standing next to him, hands hovering in the air inches away from his shoulder because she was afraid that if she touched him, he'd suddenly snap and _**destroy her **_with his drunken fist technique.

"Lee…? Are you feeling alright…?"  
An eerie silence had dawned upon the group.  
Suddenly, everyone was sober.

Everyone but Sai, it would seem.

"Why are you all acting so scared?" He smiled and stood up, sending a rush of warning signals screaming all throughout Sakura's body.

"Really, how dangerous could he be? He barely looks conscious to me."

"Sai, shut up! You haven't seen-"

"I've seen enough…" he cut her off darkly, and there was so much _**pain **_in his eyes that it stole her breath away. "…I've seen him fail to protect his friends. I've seen him lose. I've seen him weak and pathetic, and everyone knows that if it weren't for Naruto giving him that power boost, he _**never **_would have been able to avenge Neji-"

Lee shot his fist out like a viper, striking Sai's face so hard he fell to the floor and then the green clad teenager was over him, straddling his waist and punching him over and over and over; splattering blood with each strike.

Naruto was the first to reach them; he got a kick to the groin and fell down screaming.

Sakura got head-butted so hard her knees gave in on her and she fell to the floor, Hinata got kicked into a table, Shikamaru managed to bind him with his shadows but Lee quickly tore away and knocked him unconscious, Chouji got punched in the face, Ino tried her mind body switch technique but missed and passed out, and Shino got tossed to the other side of the room and into a mirror.

Through the daze of pain, Sakura watched Lee sit down in front of Sai and continue punching him; hard, heavy strikes that made the floor tremble – and then Tenten was behind him. She was reaching out to touch him, and Sakura wanted to scream at her to _**run **_but it was too late; Lee had already turned, and he'd _**kicked her**_, right on the side of her face, making the floorboards break around her as her body hit the ground.

Lee froze.

All time seemed to have stopped.

Suddenly, he looked _**painfully **_sober again, as he reached out towards her with trembling, bloody hands and checked her vitals.

Sakura heard Tenten whisper something in a small, broken voice; Lee gave out a heavy sob and then he was on his feet, fleeing out of the bar.

Tenten's sadly smiling face was the last thing she saw before she lost consciousness.

_**~30**__**th**__** of May~**_

Everything hurt.

Every limb in his body was alight with pain; every sound wave was hitting his eardrums so hard it felt like they'd burst; the flash of light hitting his eyes as he slowly opened them felt like they'd sear through him and tear him apart.

His face was the worst, though.

It felt just like someone had taken every piece of it, every single shard of bone and cracked tooth and broken skin and _**pushed **_them back together, forcing them to fit against each other like pieces of a puzzle.

When Sai saw the clouded vision of his own hand in the air above him, he realized that his eyes were filled with tears and wondered if it was because of the pain or the drugs they must have given him.

Through the haze of his mind, he realized that he was laying in a hospital bed, but couldn't for the sake of him remember _**why**_.

"Teme…" a low voice, hoarse with anger, spoke up suddenly from just beside him.

Turning around slowly, Sai's eyesight cleared as he caught sight of Naruto sitting in a chair by the bed, scowling at him.

And then suddenly, all memories returned to him – the night out with the gang, the drinks, the game, the _**heartbreak **_and the sudden, over powering _**need**_ to feed the pain some more, to loose himself in the burn of psychical anguish.

"…what the _**hell **_is wrong with you?!"

He turned his back on Naruto, fighting back a sob.

Sai seldom felt so emotional – it was confusing for him to feel so weak and fragile, all he really wanted was for the blonde to leave him alone.

"Did you _**want **_this to happen?! HUH?! You know that everyone in the gang got beat up because of you, right?! Sakura-chan got a concussion, and they had to sew _eighteen stitches_ on Shino's back! They haven't been able to find Lee either, they think he might have actually _left _the village, all because of you and your big stupid mouth!"

He buried his face in the pillow, not wanting to hear any more.

Apparently, this wasn't the response Naruto wanted.

The Jinchuuriki stood up.

"Come ON, Sai! Talk to me! The least you could say is that you're sorry!"

He stayed silent.

Tears where threatening to fall, but he wouldn't let them.  
"TALK TO ME!"

Sai clenched his hands tightly into the covers, forced a smile onto his face, and turned to look at him.

Naruto was red faced, panting from screaming, and his big, beautiful blue eyes were wide and filled with confusion and anger.

That was the thing about him, Sai thought to himself. He was so _painfully _open with his emotions; he was like reading a book.

A bad quality for a shinobi perhaps, but it had meant the world to Sai, as it made it easier for him to understand the balance between action and reaction in the interaction between humans.

It had made him study Naruto; watched the fire in his eyes whenever he talked about becoming Hokage, the sadness in them whenever Sasuke's name was uttered, the dimples in his cheeks whenever he smiled that big bright smile of his and the ramen soup drip down his chin whenever he ate too sloppily (_which was every time he ate_).

It had made him fall in love with him.

"_We're friends right? I'm sorry if I didn't make that more clear to you, Sai!" _

His smile twitched.

"I'm sorry, Naruto. Could you please just… _leave_?"

_**~10**__**th**__** of July~ **_

It had taken weeks to plan this.

For weeks they'd plotted, scheduled and schemed every possible hindrance, consequence and safety measure they'd have to take in order to achieve their goal; Sasuke's head had been so filled with thoughts of traps and guards and prison cells that he'd barely gotten an hour of good night's sleep now for far too long.

And yet here they were, hesitating at the edge of the protective barrier they knew was surrounding the village of Konoha and that would alert the ANBU of their presence the very second they breached it.

They'd have to work fast, and in the protection of the night.

"What are we waiting for?" Suigetsu suddenly spoke up, breaking the tense silence. "_**She's **_waiting for us."

He took the final step, into the village ground, and then darted out into the darkness.

Juugo was soon to follow.

For half a second, Sasuke lingered, even though he knew that it wasn't wise, and then reached out a hesitant hand to the other side and smiled.

_Seems like I'm finally coming home… teme. _

They were standing waiting for them about three hundred meters from the village edge; a group of twenty or so ANBU ninjas that fell down on the forest floor around them like the leaves their precious village was named after.

At the sight of them Sasuke, Juugo and Suigetsu all skidded to a halt, quickly formatting themselves so that they were standing shoulder to shoulder to shoulder.

The circle of ANBU's closed in on them from every direction.

"Sasuke Uchiha!" One of the ninjas stepped forward, a woman by the sound of it. "We have you outnumbered and at our mercy! Now we command you and your companions to lay down your arms and come with us peacefully, or we _**will **_have you dealt with like any other A-class criminal…" she cracked her knuckles. "…by which I mean death."

This one had no love of him, apparently.

He smiled.

Everything was going according to plan.

"Alright everyone!" Suigetsu cheered, and drew his sword. "Looks like these fellows wanna play! Juugo are you with me?! We'll go on three! One…"

"Lay _**down **_your arms!"

"…two…"

"Good luck." Juugo whispered to Sasuke.

"You too."

"…three!"

Not allowing himself the shadow of a doubt, Sasuke activated his Mangekyo Sharingan and watched his friends jump _**over **_and beside the ANBU in front of them, darting onwards towards the village.

Before the guards had gotten the chance to realize what had just happened and followed, Sasuke took a deep breath and whispered: "Amaterasu", even though he knew that it would be for the last time.

Through the pain and the heat of the black flames, he felt a trickle of blood rinse down his cheek.

The darkness was spreading across his vision.  
He watched the fire spread through the forest; watched the ANBU guards scream with terror as it lit their bodies like grotesque, skeleton candles; he watched them crumble and die on the forest floor like flies and smelled the stench of decay from them – everything with the detached fascination of a man watching a play.

Sasuke watched the flame eat their way through wood and moss, flesh and bones; knowing full well that it would be the last things he'd ever see.

_**~13**__**th**__** of July~ **_

He woke up to darkness.

It scared him at first; the throbbing of his head, the pain, the disorientation; he couldn't remember _**anything**_; not where he was, where he came from or what he was doing there.

And then; _**fire. **_

He'd set the Konoha forest into flames with his Amaterasu.

He'd seen his companions run forward, towards the village, to save Karin.

He'd willingly sacrificed his eyesight to protect a friend.

The thought made a bitter laugh rise up his throat, thick and sour like bile.

Naruto would have been proud.

"I see that you're finally awake now, Sasuke-kun." a familiar voice spoke.

"Kakashi-sensei…" he mumbled and sat up. It startled him slightly, to not having noticed his former teacher's presence. Had he been there the whole time?

"Now now, Sasuke-kun. You shouldn't be getting so familiar with me, it was a long time ago since I was your sensei. Besides, I'm Hokage now."

"Congratulations…" Sasuke drawled back sarcastically. "…I heard as much. And _you're_ the one getting familiar with _me_, not the opposite."

The older male chuckled, and a sound of something that could be a book closing was heard.

The familiarity of it was almost enough to bring the smile back on the raven's face.

"I've heard other things as well; rumors spread quickly in the underworld you know. There was this particularly nasty one that you and Gai-sensei are about to get married…" no objections were heard. "…please tell me that it's not true."

"It is though."

"HAH! How did he convince you into _that_? You lost a challenge or something?"

"No. Actually, I was the one who asked him. And not because of some silly challenge, marriages shouldn't be based on that. I asked him because I love him, Sasuke-kun."

The words were enough off a chock to Sasuke's system to make him shut up.

"It seems like I've been away from the village for too long…" he finally muttered, defeated.

"That you have." All humor was lost from Kakashi's voice.

Left in it was only cold contempt.

They fell into an uncomfortable silence after that, Kakashi staring at Sasuke so intensely he could _**feel **_his eyes (including the hidden one) bore into him.

He'd figured out that he was in one of the Konoha hospital's beds by then, there were machines beeping steadily next to him and tubes running from his arms.

For a brief moment he wondered how long he'd been asleep, and if anyone he knew had come to visit him while he slept.

"You've noticed by now, I'm sure…" Kakashi suddenly spoke up, earning his attention.

"What?"  
"Your chakra. It's been completely sealed off, I had Sakura do the surgery on you yesterday…"

The words sent a bolt of chock surging through his body.

No, he _hadn't _noticed, but now when he thought about it there was a strange _**emptiness **_in his veins that hadn't been there before, it felt just like something had gone missing.

"…she's chief of surgery now, you know. Works her brain out, poor girl, but she's the best one we've got…" the pride in his voice only added to the feeling of _**void **_in Sasuke's body. "…and Naruto, Naruto's become so strong! Not only in body, but in spirit as well! He saved the village from Pain, learned to work together with the Kyuubi and practically ended the entire war by himself! Even Sai has…"

"Sai?" Sasuke interrupted, suddenly feeling _**dead cold. **_

Kakashi must have noticed the sudden drop of temperature in the room, because he had a strange tone to his voice when he continued.

"Sai. Your replacement. You didn't think that we'd just sit around waiting for you to come back all these years, did you? A team needs four members; when you left, Sai became the fourth."

An image of emotionless dark eyes and a fake smile came to mind, making his heart clench with a strange fury.

"That traitorous bastard tried to sell everyone out to Orochima-"

"Sai has been nothing but loyal to this village since the day he became a ninja. He's a valuable part of team seven, and I would appreciate it if you wouldn't talk badly about him in my presence."

Suddenly, the air was thick with _**power**_, Kakashi's sensei's power, and in his weakened state the weight of the Hokage's chakra alone seemed like more than enough to be able to crush him on the slightest whim.

It probably was too.

Then, just as suddenly, it let up again, and Sasuke realized that he'd been holding his breath.

"Besides, he's become a great friend to both Naruto and Sakura!" Kakashi chirped happily, as if nothing had happened.

Taking his time to steady himself, Sasuke jumped when a warm hand was put on his shoulder.

"You will never be a shinobi again…" the Hokage said darkly. "…you had your chance once, before you tried to seriously kill Sakura and me, but now it's too late, you've gone too far. Once you're out of the hospital, you'll be confined to your apartment for the following five months, under the direct and constant supervision of at least one ANBU guard. New guards will be appointed to you every day. After this, you will be set free to walk around the village, all though you should know that even though you may not notice them, there will be guards watching your every step for the following seven years.

For your crimes against Konoha and the Great Ninja Nation; you may not leave the village for at least twenty."

The hand left his shoulder.

"I hope you realize this punishment is meek, considering what you've done. The councilmen really wanted your head, but I managed to convince them otherwise…" he heard the other man stand up and begin to leave. A door was opened. "…for Naruto's sake. Be grateful."

The door shut close, leaving Sasuke alone with his thoughts.

_**~27**__**th**__** of July~**_

They were sitting in the soft grass on the Hokage Mountain, enjoying the view of the sunset together in a comfortable silence.

Sai was sitting with his sketchpad, half mindedly drawing the view of the almost completely rebuilt city now for the umpteenth time; Sakura laying dozing on his left side, Naruto sitting chewing on a blade of grass on his right.

It was a beautiful evening; the sky was lit up by thousands upon thousands of different hues of orange melting into purple, there wasn't a cloud visible, a soft wind was blowing and the air had just the right temperature – not to hot, nor to cold.

On the surface, everything seemed perfect.

On the surface, Sasuke was nowhere to be seen.

Not in the village, not in their hearts, not in the long intertwined shadows of their company.

The truth was that Sai felt it like Sasuke was _**everywhere**_, looking down on him, pushing him away from this group he hadn't really belonged to from the start – making him feel small and insignificant in this silence that never would have happened before the news of the Uchiha's arrival had reached them, or more specifically: Naruto.

Naruto… you could say a lot about Naruto, but one thing was for sure: he was _**not **_the silent thinking type.

Before the news had reached them, he'd been impossible to shut up for more than a couple of minutes, always blabbering on and on about being Hokage or ramen or his training or ramen – but now, just this evening, he'd been silent for almost _**thirty**_, his big blue eyes locked on the horizon and unreadable even to Sai.

It had been like this ever since he got to know that the Uchiha was back and the verdict given to him, roughly one and a half week ago.  
They'd go about their days as normal; meeting up every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday afternoon to spar and eat together at Ichiraku ramen; every Tuesday to eat lunch and every Saturday to just hang out and have fun with each other, not once mentioning Sasuke, and then both suddenly and randomly, Naruto would just space out and disappear from reality for various lengths of times, leaving Sai and Sakura to worry.

It made him want to shake him, want to scream at him and tell him that this wasn't like him – Naruto was a man of action, whatever it is he thought about doing he should just _**do it**_, because the silence he left them in was painful and depressing!

He never did though.

He just… didn't have the courage.

And besides, even though he knew that it was hopeless and one sided, Sai was still desperately in love with Naruto and was afraid of what the blond was thinking, what he might _**do **_if he acted upon his thoughts.

Even though it was selfish, Sai didn't want to lose and give up on him just yet.

He dropped his paintbrush to the ground.

It was finished.

"Here…" he held the painting up towards the light, making his friends turn to look at it. "…what do you think?"

"It looks great, Sai!" Sakura cheered, and Naruto nodded his head in acknowledgment.

"Do you think I could sell it?"

"Sure, if you wanted to… Are you planning on making some extra money?"

"In that case, you could treat me to ramen!"

"I'm thinking about quitting as a shinobi…" Even now, the words were hard to utter. He'd played this scenario over and over in his head, thinking of a variety of ways to tell them this, until finally he'd decided that the best way to do it was to just _**tell them**_. Still, he was nervous.

A long silence fell upon them, just like he knew it would.

He kept his eyes fixed on the drawing, thinking of ways to improve it to keep himself from looking at their facial expressions.

"Wait… _why?_"

"Yeah! I don't get it - I thought we were a team?!"

He forced up one of his fake smiles and turned to them, one after the other, taking in their chocked (hurt?) expressions.

"Yeah, well, we never really were, were we now? I mean, I was just a replacement after all, and now that the original is back I figured-"

"Don't say that!" Sakura interrupted heatedly. "You are _**not **_just a replacement, and even if you were, you quitting doesn't make any sense! _**Sasuke will never be a shinobi again. **_We severed and emptied his chakra threads, there's no way he will ever be able to use anything other than taijutsu from now on – I know! I did the operation myself!"

"It's too late now, anyway. I talked to Kakashi-sensei yesterday and he granted-"

"I don't believe that! He'd never grant your resignation just because of Sasuke!"

"No, you're right. He didn't."

Another long silence.

Sai felt a blissful summer breeze run through his hair, and held on a little tighter to his work.

His heart felt like a gaping hole in his chest, dark and ominous.

"Then why…?" Naruto finally whispered softly.

"Because of this…" Sai reached out his tongue, and showed them the place where the seal used to be that for so many years had kept him from speaking of his master's secrets. "…Danzo may be dead, but the scars he gave me will always be there. I've seen so much, done so many things…" he sighed, and looked down at the ground. "…I just want some _**peace**_."

Silence fell upon them once again, heavy and sad.

Then, he could feel Sakura's hand lace itself with his and her head came to rest at his shoulder.

Naruto came closer too, making his heart beat a little faster in his chest, and then the blonds arm was around his back and his nose was in his hair, breathing him in.

Together, what was left of team seven huddled on top of the Hokage Mountain, watching the city of Konoha as the sun finally disappeared completely and a blanket of stars spread itself across the sky in its stead.

_**~28**__**th**__** of July~**_

Sasuke was _**not **_pleased.

He'd been back to Konoha for more than three weeks now, and had spent the last two locked up in the spacious, all too big apartment Kakashi had assigned to him.

He'd spend his days together with a variety of different ANBU guards that would stare at him through their masks but never speak a word or even coming to help him when he'd try and fail to locate the bathroom (that actually still happened from time to time, even though Sasuke thought that he knew just how many steps to walk and turns to turn in order to get where he wanted by now).

He'd have visitors now and then.

Kakashi came over to talk to him at least twice a week, once even bringing Gai-sensei along to confirm the rumors of their upcoming marriage (Sasuke still had trouble believing it though); Sakura had been there thrice to join him in awkward silences and avoid talking about a certain blond haired Hokage-candidate – even Hinata had dropped by to give him an invitation to her wedding, even though he failed to understand why.

He'd seen everyone he'd expected and more, except for the one he _**really **_wanted to talk to – Naruto.

Where _**was he?! **_

For _**years **_the blond had been stubbornly hunting after him, trying to get him to come back to Konoha – and now that he was back, he hadn't seen so much as the shadow of him, and whenever he tried to ask someone _**why **_they'd either try to avoid the subject or outright tell him to shut up and mind his own business.

It was _**extremely **_frustrating, it made him want to break something against the walls or try and run away again just to see if Naruto would come running after him, like he'd used to – but then when he'd realized that throwing stuff didn't work because the ANBU would just catch the things midair and put it back where it had stood, and running away wasn't possible either because _**he couldn't even go to the toilet without one of them stationed at every more or less possible exit**_, he made another decision.

The next time they put a plate of food before him, he didn't touch it.

Instead, he turned his unseeing eyes to the side and scowled at what he assumed was a wall.  
"What are you doing?" A voice, male, spoke up.

So they _**did **_know how to talk.

"I'm not eating."

…  
"Why?"

"Because I'm not going to eat _**anything **_until that stupid ass, annoying, stubborn _**teme **_comes to visit me!"

_**~31**__**st**__** of July~**_

If Sasuke had been asked to describe how he thought that Naruto's first entrance to his apartment would have been, he'd tell whoever it was asking to mind his or her own business, while mentally seeing the blond knocking down his door with a hard kick to scream at him for some fifteen minutes or so before, finally, he'd say something cheesy about eternal friendship or such, pull him into a tight hug and welcome him home – making Sasuke smile.

To say that he was disappointed when Naruto finally _**did **_come visiting him, slinking in through the door with his metaphorical tail between his legs to sit on the far edge of the couch, as far away from him as possible, would be an understatement.

A long, uncomfortable silence settled over them.

What happened to the loud, energetic boy he once knew?

Surely the meek shadow sitting there, avoiding looking at him, couldn't be Naruto?

But the ANBU guard that had let him in had said that he was, and he _**smelled **_right (like a strangely addictive mixture between ramen, sweat and _**warmth**_).

"Do you think you can just force me here after so many years, Sasuke…?" The blond finally whispered, hoarsely; making Sasuke's heart clench uncomfortably in his chest.

It was so long ago since he'd heard that voice; he'd never realized how much he'd missed it.

"Apparently, I can." He replied, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible in an attempt to rile him up, of bringing out the _**real **_Naruto that he'd missed and cursed and dreamed off for so many years.

Apparently, it wasn't going to work though, as the other male didn't respond.

They fell right back into the silence again, the thick, cursed silence that made Sasuke want to gnaw at his bottom lip or break something or _**scream! **_

"You killed your brother…" Naruto continued, making his heart speed up. "…but you didn't come home, like you promised to."

"I didn't promise anything."

"You planned to destroy the village, kill everyone in it, even though Itachi dedicated his life to protect it!" He felt Naruto's eyes bore into him, and shifted uncomfortably were he sat. This wasn't going at all like he'd wanted it to. "You even went after Sakura-chan and Kakashi-sensei with the intent to _**kill! **_You… you almost killed her, even though you _**know **_how much she loves you and-!"

"She doesn't, though." He interrupted darkly, not being able to stand the accusations any more. When Naruto seemed unable to answer, he continued. "She loves the _**idea **_of me. Nothing else. And I didn't."

He felt Naruto's eyes boring into his own; blue and hurt against black and dead.

"What? You didn't _**what?!**_"

"Destroy the village. I never did it. In fact, I came back to it…" He turned towards him completely on the couch and moved a little closer, feeling and ignoring the eyes of the ANBU guards on him as he took Naruto's hand in his own. It was bigger than his, callused from years of fighting but soft, and the feel of it made his heart beat a little faster in his chest. He turned his face to where he thought Naruto's was directed. "…don't you want to know why?"

"Yes… Why? I don't… don't understand?"

"You."

_**~28**__**th**__** of July~**_

They were the only ones left.

After Lee'd finally been able to pull himself together, Ino had been let out of the hospital and the news of Hinata's marriage and Sai's resignation had become public knowledge, Shino had decided that what everyone needed was another group activity.

Therefore, he'd organized a movie night at Naruto's place (without the blond's knowledge, until everyone started barging in of course) – no alcohol allowed this time.

Rock Lee had been the first to arrive, a very sleepy Tenten anda traumatized looking Hinata carried on his back, creeping the shit out of Naruto with his big smile and energetic attitude because it was _**five o' clock in the morning, what were they DOING THERE?! **_

Together with them they'd brought all Rocky movies (Lee), Mulan (Tenten) and some black-and-white classic called Floating Weeds (Hinata).  
They also brought a sleepy looking Akamaru, that stretched out all over the rubbish spread out over Naruto's apartment floor and promptly fell asleep, some chips and a twelve pack of coke.

Once they'd realized that Naruto was just about as sleepy as any normal human being would be at five o' clock in the morning, Tenten pulled him away to get them some breakfast at Ichiraku's while Lee and Hinata cleaned his apartment for him, making it into a challenge that Lee lost when he accidentally punched a hole in the bathroom door with a broom.

In the end, Tenten and Naruto returned to an apartment cleaner than it had ever been before, albeit in need of a new door, and Lee doing shirtless pushups hanging from the windowsill on the apartment building's façade.

Some hours later, Sakura and Sai came to join them; the female bringing a bunch of different fruits and vegetables, green tea bags and Dirty Dancing, the male bringing a book about things to do on a movie night, his sketchbook and a pen.

After them, Ino and Chouji arrived – Ino wearing a half blond/half pink Lolita wig on her head (ever since her original hair had burned off, she'd gone shopping for a variety of different wigs that she enjoyed switching every day), bringing with her a library's worth off chick flicks and sad romantic movies; Chouji bringing one bag of chips that never seemed to end.

They came in hand in hand.

Shino, even though he was the one that had orchestrated the entire thing, came in last, when they'd already watched two and a half of the movies. He brought the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the uncut versions.

Seeing the films, they immediately cancelled watching the first Twilight movie, that was just boring everyone but Ino and Sakura out anyway, and spent the next nine hours watching LOTR instead, pressed together on Naruto's small, moth eaten couch and some wiggly old chairs (really, you'd think that the hero of Konoha would be living better than he did).

As the hours ticked by, everyone slowly began to trail out.

Hinata was the first to leave, albeit reluctantly, stuttering something weird about wedding dress shopping with Gai-sensei, Akamaru following her as she left.

When the second movie was over, Lee and Tenten went home as well, and at the end of the third movie, when Frodo leaves Sam to go with the elves, Chouji burst into tears and started sobbing into Ino's shoulder.

When she asked him what was wrong, he mumbled something gross about love and never leaving her, she started crying as well, and they kicked them out.

After one more movie, Sakura had fallen asleep on the floor, and half a movie after that (Titanic. They got as far as the sex scene in the van, but not the actual shipwrecking) Shino left as well.

Now, there was only Naruto and Sai left.

The raven supposed that he was meant to feel nervous about it, but he was sleepy and it was hard getting into a romantic mood with Sakura snoring by their feet.  
He went and got a blanket to drape her with instead, tucking a pillow underneath her head before sitting down to draw again, half mindedly watching the still playing movie.

Naruto, however, was bored with it, and pressed the pause button.

"Sai!" He shouted and threw himself over the couch to spread out in mock seduction. "Paint me like one of your French girls!"

The raven stared at him for a long, long time, eyes dark and unreadable, until finally his entire face lit up with a sleepy, yet true smile.

He started sketching.

_**~24**__**th**__** of August~**_

It had become a routine.

Ever since the movie night where Sai had painted Naruto as if he was his Rose, the blond had come over at least once a week to pose for drawings and portraits.

Sai wasn't sure why it had started.

They hadn't talked about it, hadn't come to some verbal agreement that this was the way it should be from now on, when they didn't spend every other day beating each other to the dust on the training fields – no, Naruto had only burst into his apartment one day, demanding to get his portrait done in that painfully loud and obnoxious way of his, and had kept coming from then on.

It wasn't that he even _**needed**_ him to model for him - really, if Sai wanted to, he could have painted a perfect picture of the Jinchuuriki in his sleep; his image was so imprinted in his mind (!), but, looking at Naruto now, sitting by his kitchen counter with a bowl of ramen in his hands, the soup rinsing down the corner of his mouth, Sai found that he really wouldn't want it any other way.

"Do you want me to include your bad table manners in the picture, Naruto?" He asked him playfully, underlining the bulge in the other male's cheek, that was stuffed with ramen and made him look kind of like a chipmunk.

"Huh?!" The blond answered intelligently, making him chuckle before he put his sketch down, stood up and crossed the distance between them to wipe the juice off of Naruto's face with the sleeve of his shirt.

"That's better…" he mumbled, before he noticed the blush on the Jinchuuriki's cheeks and backed away, realizing that he'd gotten too intimate with him again.

"Sorry." He returned to his seat, and picked up his things to continue drawing. "I'll just stay with the natural, next time."

Naruto gulped his food down, and stuffed his mouth full once again.

For a couple of minutes, nothing could be heard except for the scribble of pen against paper and the loud chewing of food.

Sai added a couple of details to the picture, like the moisture on Naruto's lips and the noodle that had caught in his hair, and then he was finished.

He took a quick glance at the piece, thinking about how the blond probably just liked getting drawn by him because he was fast and… well, he made him look _**really **_hot!

He showed him the drawing, and Naruto gave him a quick grin and a thumbs up before he returned to his eating.

The blond never kept the paintings, always insisting that he'd just loose them in the mess of his apartment and that Sai would treat them better.

It seemed kind of odd to the raven, but he kept them none the less, all of them, in one of his nightstand table drawers.

He'd thought about making them into a gallery more than a couple of times, but, honestly, the thought of letting anyone else see them than he and Naruto, of _**sharing them**_ always made him feel slightly sick inside.

"Thamks for 'e crub!" The blond suddenly exclaimed, mouth still full with food, and pushed the now completely empty bowl away from him, making Sai smile.  
It looked so clean you'd think that he'd _**licked **_the last of the leftovers out of it.

"You're welcome, Naruto."

"Se'iously dude, 'f u we'n't so stuck on be'ng an artist, u coul' totally 'e a chef!"

"You'll have to swallow, or I won't be able to understand you."

The blond swallowed, and let out a loud burp, making Sai roll his eyes.

So much for table manners.

Naruto seemed as oblivious as usual however, only smiling that big stupid smile of his.

"I said that you're a great cook, Sai!"

He actually flushed at this.

Not knowing how to respond, he took a hold of the dirty dishes and made for the sink, trying his hardest to avoid looking at those big, blue, beautiful eyes and that big, wide, beautiful grin, that made his legs feel unsteady and his heart beat too loud.

He tried to put distance between them, but failed, because Naruto followed him.

"No really! I mean it! That was almost as good as Ichiraku's ramen!"

Sai turned on the water.

The blond leaned himself against the kitchen counter and smiled at him some more.

Sai tried, and failed, not to notice.

"Hey man, is that a _**blush **_on your face? That's too cute! You really need to learn how to take a compliment though, if I hadn't followed you up here I never would have noticed, and then I might have thought that you were pissed at me!"

There was a long, long pause.

The water kept rinsing, scolding hot and foaming, down into the sink.

Sai let it.

He felt the anger build in him, even though he wasn't sure why.

It could be because he'd been caught with an emotion he hadn't been able to control on his face, or because Naruto had called him cute; it could be because he said it like if he was being ironic, or it could be because the blond wouldn't leave him alone.

It could also be because the Jinchuuriki wasn't usually this confusing – sure, he'd never failed to force his way into Sai's life before when the raven rather would have just been left alone, but this time was different because it didn't seem to him like Naruto had anything to _**gain **_from coming here, getting his picture done and then leaving it to dust in Sai's drawer.

It was strange, and the artist _**hated it **_because it left him with false feelings of _**hope**_, even though he knew that the blond went to visit Sasuke nowadays at least as often as he did him, and that he'd _**never **_be able to compete against _**him**_.

The silence dragged on.

"You… you're _**not **_pissed at me, are you?" Naruto finally stuttered, nervously.

Another long pause.

"No." Sai answered, and put his hands into the scolding water to reach the dish brush.

It hurt like hell, but he didn't care.

"Sai…" The raven ignored him. He pulled the dirty bowl to him and began to scrub it. "…what's up? There's obviously _**something **_wrong…? Is it the dishes? Because I can totally do those for you if you want me to!"

"That's fine." He kept scrubbing, trying to maul his anger into the porcelain.

It was practically clean already.

"No really, Sai, let me do that for you-" Naruto reached out and grabbed the side of the bowl.

"NO!" Sai recoiled instantly, on pure reflex, sending the bowl smashing into the kitchen wall.

They froze.

The blond was standing as if transfixed, looking at the broken pieces on the floor, and the raven took a couple of clumsy steps backwards in pure horror.

That… that was stupid.

Slowly, Naruto turned towards him, eyes darker than usual, clouded with confusion and a _**hurt **_that stabbed its way straight into Sai's heart.

"What's going on?" The blond asked him. "Why…? I only told you that you cook nice and then… I don't _**understand!**_"

Neither do I, Sai wanted to answer, but the words got stuck in his throat.

"Why… why are you so _**angry?!**_"

I'm not angry, he thought. I'm sad and I'm lonely and I'm confused, I thought I knew who I was but you make everything you touch into a mess and you make _**me **_a mess! When I resigned I was hoping that you'd move on with your life and leave me alone but you kept coming back and I don't know why - do you?! You make me so happy and so sad at once, if I'd known that emotions were so difficult I never would have gotten any, _**why **_are you here _**why are you not with HIM?! **_

"Please…" Sai finally stuttered, tears filling his eyes up quickly as he took a couple of tumbling steps towards him, and grabbed Naruto's shirt tightly. "_**Please!**_ Don't leave me!"

_**~28**__**th**__** of August~**_

"Can you believe it? CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!" Naruto shouted, straight into her ear. Sakura groaned, feeling her head pound painfully, and took another shot of sake. "…They made Kakashi-sensei, the old super pervert, into Hokage instead of me! It's like… like… I'm WAY super stronger than him now! Ammaright Sakura-chan?" He slurred the last part, before letting out a humongous burp that made the entire bar counter shake.

"Well, I think that-"

"AND NOW! NOOOOOOOOOW…!" He interrupted, making her seriously consider either pounding her head against the bar until she passed out or throwing up in his lap. Her stomach gave a clench. Looked like the second alternative might become the winner… "…SASUKE'S BACK AND THAT'S GREAT! But… it's making Sai act REALLY weird! And I don't wanna have to choose between them because…" he wiped some tears from his eyes. Sakura sighed. Such a drama queen. "…I love them, Sakura-chan. And I love you, and Kakashi-sensei even though he got to be Hokage instead of me, and Kuruma, and I love thick brows and older thick brows and Tenten and Hinata and Shino and Chouji and Shikamaru and Ino and Gaara and Konohomaru and Iruka-sensei and Bee-sensei and Neji and Yamato and Tsunade-baachan and that perverted hermit Jiraiya and my mom and my dad…!"  
"Alright! That's enough whining from you!" Sakura threw her glass down onto the table. "BUUHUUHUU! I'm Naruto Uzumaki and I have to choose which super attractive, talented and _**amazing**_ guy to become gay lovers with-!"

"That's not-!"

"OH PLEASE NARUTO WAKE UP AND JOIN THE REST OF US IN REALITY!" She screamed, from the bottom of her lungs, that were quite big considering her chest size and made the entire bar turn to stare at them. "Sasuke-kun and Sai are IN LOVE with you! They want to KISS YOU! HOLD YOUR HAND! DO STUFF TO YOUR BUTT! Like… like Kakashi-sensei and Gai-sensei!"

Naruto looked like he was going to be sick.

"Kakashi-sensei does stuff to Gai-sensei's butt?!"  
"YES!"

"But… that's were POOP comes from!"

"YES! YES OH KAMI, NARUTO! DON'T YOU KNOW ANYTHING?!"

"NO! WHY WOULD I KNOW THAT?!"  
"BECAUSE SASUKE-KUN AND SAI WANTS TO DO STUFF TO YOUR BUTT TOO NARUTO AND ADMIT IT YOU'D TOTALLY LIKE IT!"

"NO I WOULDN'T!"

"YES YOU WOULD! YOU'RE TOTALLY GAY!"

"NO I'M NOT!"

"BUT YOU JUST SAID YOU LOVE THEM!"  
"I SAID I LOVE YOU TOO, DIDN'T I?!"  
"YEAH BUT WE'RE LIKE BROTHER AND SISTER, AND IT'S NOT LIKE THAT WITH THE OTHERS IS IT?!"

"WITH SASUKE IT IS!"

Sakura's breath caught in her throat before she could scream out the next insult.

Through her drunken daze, she'd realized that Naruto had just shouted out something really significant, even though he probably hadn't realized it himself.

She made a small mental victory dance and smirked.

"Well, that's your answer right there, isn't it?"

He stared.

"Wut?"

Kami, he was stupid!

Lucky for him that he was hanging out with intelligent people, like her.

"Sai isn't a brother too you!"

Damn! That came out wrong!

As expected, Naruto didn't get it.

"Wut?!"

"I… I mean…" she sighed, and took another shot of sake for support. "…you think of Sasuke as a brother, right?"

Slowly, he nodded.

She smiled.

Finally, he seemed to understand!

"And you love him as a brother!"

He nodded again.

"But you love Sai as well, only _**not **_as a brother!"

Naruto gave her a suspicious look, but nodded.

"So… In what way _**do **_you love him?"

It was as if someone had suddenly lit a light bulb inside the blond's head.

A look of pure _**awe **_swept itself across his face; his eyes widened, his cheeks reddened, and his mouth fell open in chock.

Sakura smirked once again, and then stood up to make a dramatic exit.

She patted his shoulder.

"Think about it."

The pink head turned around, and fell first face onto the floor.

A roar of laughter erupted from all over the bar, making her groan into the floorboards.

Ah well, at least she'd made an impression.

_**~8**__**th**__** of September, the porch~**_

Naruto was standing in front of Sai's front door, a bouquet of flowers that Ino had been way too happy helping him pick out clenched tightly in his hands.

He'd water combed his messy blond hair until it was laying flat and shining against his scalp, there was an orange bowtie attached to the hem of shirt and he'd been sitting up all night, thinking of what to say and how to say it and then practicing it to perfection in front of his mirror.

And yet, he hesitated.

Slowly, the blond raised his fist to give the door a knock, but he stopped himself a couple of inches away from it.

His heart was pounding heavily, a trail of cold sweat was running down his spine and, from the back of his head, he could hear Kurama mocking:  
_**"What? You'll jump into battles with guys powerful enough to destroy MOUNTAINS without the shadow of a doubt, but you're too much of a scaredy cat to ask someone out on a date?" **_

"Shut UP!" He snarled, making the demon chuckle. "And keep out of this! I don't want you interrupting-"

"_**Interrupting what exactly? Just how intimate are you ready to go on a first date, Naruto?" **_

The fox sent him a mental image that made a chock of electricity run up the blond's spine and a blush spread across his cheeks.

Trying to get it out of his head, he closed his eyes and shook it violently.

"P-P-PERVERT!" Naruto screamed, and Kurama let out a roar of laughter. "Seriously! I DON'T want you to ruin this! I practiced SO MUCH, but I've never been good with words and stuff and if I don't stay focused I'm gonna end up forgetting what to say and-!"

"_**I could help you if you like. I remember your speech; you repeated it so much you practically FORCED its way into my brain!" **_

"No thank you. I'm NOT falling for _**that one**_, Kurama! You're just gonna trick me into saying something stupid or perverted-"

"_**No I won't! I promise! Super promise! I'll be good!" **_

"Since when are you GOOD?"

"_**I swear it! On my tail!" **_

"You have nine of those. It wouldn't surprise me if you'd be willing to sacrifice one!"

"_**I'd never do that! My tails are like my babies to me!" **_

"You have _weird _babies."

"_**Like YOU'RE one to speak! You keep doting over that stupid headband like it's your girlfriend or something…!" **_

"My headband was a precious gift from Iruka-sensei! It proves that I'm a ninja of Konoha and is a symbol of-"

"_**I know, I know! It's a symbol of the will of Fire – seriously, you humans have been going on and on about that for DECADES!" **_

"That's because it's important to us!"

"_**Well duuh." **_

Needless to say, no doors were knocked on for the following fifteen minutes.

_**~8**__**th**__** of September, the bed~**_

He was sitting on the edge of his ridiculously large double bed; deep dark bags were cornering his eyes from lack of sleep, he was still dressed in nothing but his morning robe and he hadn't left the apartment, even for grocery shopping, for at least five days.

Put shortly: Sai felt like shit.

He hadn't been so lonely since his brother died back in Root – sure, Kakashi-sensei still came to visit every once in a while, when he had the time, and Sakura had started making it into a habit of hers to come and force-feed him every other day, but besides from that, the raven spent his life alone.

Every day had become the same, monotone grey: he'd wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast while reading, try to paint, fail to paint, take a shower, eat lunch while reading, try to paint again, fail to paint again, read some more, exercise, eat dinner while reading, watch some TV, go to sleep – repeat.

It had been like that ever since his talk with Naruto, where Sai had forgotten all about the hard, emotional repression training he'd gone through as Danzo's agent and _**crumbled**_.

He'd let everything out at once, all of his confusion and anger and sorrow – years upon years of unspoken emotion, and it had created a rift between himself and his best friend and secret crush that he had no idea of how to mend.

There was a piece of paper in Sai's hands.

It was one of the pictures, the first one he'd painted were Naruto had been pretending to be one of his "French girls".

The raven looked at it, knowing that he could make it come alive and reach out to him with nothing but a thought, knowing that, if he wanted to, he could make it Naruto's size, paint it in his colors, even give it his voice.

He looked at it and thought of the possibilities; his vast, empty apartment would come to life again! He'd make his Naruto ramen every morning; creativity would return to Sai - making his art carrier blossom; the rooms would be filled with the sound of Naruto talking and laughing, eating and snoring; and in the evenings, they'd fall asleep in the same bed, and if his paper clone didn't radiate the same heat as the original did then that was alright, Sai could live with that.  
Filled with determination, he thought the command and, slowly, a pair of inky fingers began to stretch themselves out towards him through the paper.

As in a trance, Sai reached his own hand out to it, and smiled softly when his skin brushed against paper and paint.

Then, suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and it startled him enough for him to lose his concentration and make the ink fall back against the drawing like water, completely ruining it.

Sai gave it a longing glance, but then stood up to gather the morning robe around him and walk up to his door.

Before he opened it, he made sure to put on his standard, emotionless facial expression.

It almost fell apart when he saw Naruto, the _**real **_Naruto, stand on the other side.

_**~8**__**th**__** of September, the porch~**_

For a long, long time – they stared at each other.

Then, because Naruto was Naruto and it was a common fact that Naruto was an idiot, even to himself, he barked out:

"You look TERRIBLE!"

He cringed.

That… that did _**not **_come out right!

He was there to charm Sai into going on a date with him, and even though Naruto was Naruto and Naruto was an idiot, even _**he **_knew that telling your love interest that he looked bad was a stupid move.

But… he really _**did **_look horrible! There were dark bags underneath his eyes, his hair was a mess and his skin was so pale Naruto thought for sure that if it got any worse he'd be completely transparent!

The observation made a sudden knot of unease that had nothing to do with him being super nervous in the first place form in his gut, and the nagging suspicion that he was somehow responsible for Sai's current appearance make itself known in the back of his mind.

Sai, however, only gave him one of his fake smiles and responded smartly:

"So do you."

Naruto blushed, and ran a hand through his hair, completely ruining the hairdo.

He looked down at his feet, suddenly feeling nauseatingly nervous, and tried to steady his breathing.

_It's okay… you can do this Naruto, you can do this! Just remember the rehearsals…! _

"_**Tell him you like his ass!" **_

He gritted his teeth.

_Didn't I tell you to SHUT UP, Kurama?! _

"_**But you DO like his ass!" **_

_That's NOT what we rehearsed though, is it?! _

"_**Oh, who cares about the rehearsal?! That speech sucked anyway! You should just go with your heart and tell him what it tells you, and right now it's telling you that you really, REALLY like his ass!" **_

_You are NOT helping! _

"Those flowers…" Naruto jumped in alarm and turned to look at Sai, that was staring at the flowers the blond was holding with a curious look. "…are they for me?"

"OH KAMI YES!" He'd _**completely **_forgotten about the damned flowers! Before thinking, Naruto burst forward and forced them into Sai's hands. "Yes, ehm, these are for you! I-I-I-I'm actually here to…" he felt his voice pinch in his throat, and took a deep breath to calm himself. Sai was watching him, looking everything like one big question mark, a fact that only managed to make Naruto, if possibly, _**more nervous**_. "I'm here to t-t-tell you…"

"_**What a fine ass you have!" **_

"…what a fine ass you have!"

He froze.

He could feel the blood rushing up towards his face. In the back of his mind, Kurama was laughing evilly. Slowly, a small blush rose on Sai's cheeks as well.

"NO NO NO NO NO NO NO! That's not AT ALL what I meant to say what I meant to say is that ehm I-I-I-I-I-IREALLYLIKEYOUANDITHINKMAYBEYOULIKEMETOO ATLEASTSAKURASAYSOANDPLEASEGOONADATEWITHME!"

He bended down in a deep bow, if only to hide his blush, and tried to breathe.

After a long, long silence, Sai finally responded with a:  
"What?"

Naruto sighed.

This wasn't working.

Slowly, he straightened up, looked the raven in the eye, and started over.

"I'm here because I like you, Sai… And then I DON'T mean friend-like you, I THOUGHT that I friend-liked you, but Sakura-chan is really smart even when she's drunk, and she told me that you… ehm…" he blushed, and started twiddling with his index fingers. "…she told me that you might like me, like… like-like me, and _**not **_friend-like me! And then I realized that I might just like-like you too. Sakura-chan told me to think about it, and I did! I spent all this week thinking and sleeping and eating over it, until finally I realized that life… well, life kind of sucks without you!" He gave Sai his biggest, brightest smile. "I realized that thinking is stupid, because when I just take the time to _feel, _then it becomes obvious that I miss you, Sai, and I never want to be away from you for a longer time than maybe a couple of days tops. I-I…" he blushed again, but kept the smile. "…I might even be able to consider kissing you, or holding your hand, or doing butt-stuff with you. I might actually even like it, even though the butt-stuff still sounds kind of weird and a little gross to me right now…"

"N-Naruto..:"

"…BUT! Sasuke is still my friend, and he needs me right now! You can never decide if I can hang out with him or not, he's like a brother to me, always has been, and even though I love you, I love him too, and you can't take that away!"

Brimming with pride, Naruto gave himself a mental pat on the back.

He'd done good, and even though it didn't really come out the way it was supposed to, he was pretty certain that he'd gotten everything he wanted said out there.

His confidence took a halt though, when he finally opened his eyes and saw Sai's frozen, horrorstruck expression.

Naruto's heart sunk in his chest, and the smile died on his lips.

Well shit!

"Y-y-you…" Sai finally managed to stutter, making the blond cringe slightly. "…you _**love me?!" **_

It sounded like an insult.

Suddenly just wanting to go and die somewhere in a corner, Naruto slowly nodded. There was no use in turning back now, was there?

"Yeah… Yeah, I…" He gave out a sheepish laugh, and rubbed the back of his head nervously again. "I love you, Sai. I really do. In the romantic way!"

Sai stared at him some more.

Naruto felt like crying.

"Ah, well, that's… that's really all I had to say…" he mumbled, and turned to leave. "…I'll see you later I guess… maybe…"

"No!" And then, Sai's arms were around his waist and his face was pressed against Naruto's shirt, making him stop in the middle of his movement and gasp. "No, please don't go! Don't you see, you BIG IDIOT?!" The raven started to laugh, a breathless, pained laugh that made Naruto wonder if maybe he'd finally gone insane? "I love you too! I love you _**so much**_, please don't leave!"

It took a couple of seconds before the words finally made sense to the blond, but when they did, his entire body became filled with tingling, overpowering _**euphoria**_!

"You love me?" He breathed, a foolish smile on his lips.

"Yes! I love you, I love you, I love you!"

Brimming with emotion, Naruto let himself relax against Sai's touch and melt into the feeling of it; the arms around his waist, the chest against his back, the breath against his neck.

He grinned.

"You love me."


End file.
